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ΠΟΙΟ ΕΙΝΑΙ ΤΟ ΣΦΑΛΜΑ ΤΗΣ ΔΕΞΙΑΣ; - ΓΙΑΤΙ Η ΑΡΙΣΤΕΡΑ ΔΕΝ ΕΧΕΙ ΜΕΛΛΟΝ;
Με ποια πλευρά συντάσσεστε λοιπόν; Οι αναγνώστες θα θεωρήσουν τις θέσεις μου δυσνόητες μόνο αν επιμένουν να πιστεύουν ότι η κάθε θέση που δεν εντάσσεται ανοιχτά στο κλασικό σχήμα Αριστερά - Δεξιά παραπέμπει αυτόματα στη Δεξιά. Εν τούτοις, η μόνη υπερασπίσιμη ηθικά επιλογή είναι να επιλέξει κανείς τον οίκτο, τη συμπόνοια και τη συγχώρεση, ενάντια στους άρχοντες και τις εξουσίες αυτού του κόσμου, να επιλέξει την αλήθεια έναντι της ιδεολογίας. Και για να κάνει κανείς αυτή την επιλογή σήμερα, θα πρέπει να απορρίψει εξ ίσου την Αριστερά και τη Δεξιά.
Η ελπίδα για μια νέα πολιτική δεν στηρίζεται στη διαμόρφωση μιας νέας αριστερής απάντησης στην άνοδο της Δεξιάς. Αντίθετα, βασίζεται στην απόρριψη των παραδοσιακών πολιτικών κατηγοριών και τον επαναπροσδιορισμό των όρων της πολιτικής αντιπαράθεσης. Η ιδέα μιας "Αριστεράς" έχει εξαντλήσει την ιστορική της ύπαρξη και πρέπει να εγκαταλειφθεί, όπως πρέπει να εγκαταλειφθεί και ένας συντηρητισμός που, σε μεγάλο βαθμό, με τη δική του ρητορική συγκαλύπτει τις παλαιότερες φιλελεύθερες παραδόσεις. Οι παλιές ταμπέλες δεν έχουν κανένα νόημα πλέον. Το μόνο που καταφέρνουν είναι να μπερδεύουν ακόμα περισσότερο τη συζήτηση αντί να την ξεδιαλύνουν. Αποτελούν προϊόντα μιας παλαιότερης εποχής, της εποχής του ατμού και του χάλυβα, και είναι εντελώς ακατάλληλες για την εποχή της ηλεκτρονικής, του ολοκληρωτισμού και της μαζικής κουλτούρας. Ας αποχαιρετήσουμε αυτούς τους παλιούς μας φίλους, ένθερμα μα ειλικρινά, και ας αναζητήσουμε αλλού έμπνευση και ηθική υποστήριξη. (Κρίστοφερ Λας, από την παρουσίαση στο οπισθόφυλλο του βιβλίου)
Η ελπίδα για μια νέα πολιτική δεν στηρίζεται στη διαμόρφωση μιας νέας αριστερής απάντησης στην άνοδο της Δεξιάς. Αντίθετα, βασίζεται στην απόρριψη των παραδοσιακών πολιτικών κατηγοριών και τον επαναπροσδιορισμό των όρων της πολιτικής αντιπαράθεσης. Η ιδέα μιας "Αριστεράς" έχει εξαντλήσει την ιστορική της ύπαρξη και πρέπει να εγκαταλειφθεί, όπως πρέπει να εγκαταλειφθεί και ένας συντηρητισμός που, σε μεγάλο βαθμό, με τη δική του ρητορική συγκαλύπτει τις παλαιότερες φιλελεύθερες παραδόσεις. Οι παλιές ταμπέλες δεν έχουν κανένα νόημα πλέον. Το μόνο που καταφέρνουν είναι να μπερδεύουν ακόμα περισσότερο τη συζήτηση αντί να την ξεδιαλύνουν. Αποτελούν προϊόντα μιας παλαιότερης εποχής, της εποχής του ατμού και του χάλυβα, και είναι εντελώς ακατάλληλες για την εποχή της ηλεκτρονικής, του ολοκληρωτισμού και της μαζικής κουλτούρας. Ας αποχαιρετήσουμε αυτούς τους παλιούς μας φίλους, ένθερμα μα ειλικρινά, και ας αναζητήσουμε αλλού έμπνευση και ηθική υποστήριξη. (Κρίστοφερ Λας, από την παρουσίαση στο οπισθόφυλλο του βιβλίου)
84 pages, Paperback
Published October 19, 2019
4 people want to read
About the author
Christopher Lasch
30 books351 followersChristopher "Kit" Lasch (June 1, 1932 – February 14, 1994) was an American historian, moralist, and social critic who was a history professor at the University of Rochester.
Lasch sought to use history as a tool to awaken American society to the pervasiveness with which major institutions, public and private, were eroding the competence and independence of families and communities. He strove to create a historically informed social criticism that could teach Americans how to deal with rampant consumerism, proletarianization, and what he famously labeled the 'culture of narcissism.'
His books, including The New Radicalism in America (1965), Haven in a Heartless World (1977), The Culture of Narcissism (1979), and The True and Only Heaven (1991), and The Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy published posthumously in 1996 were widely discussed and reviewed. The Culture of Narcissism became a surprise best-seller and won the National Book Award in the category Current Interest (paperback).
Lasch was always a critic of liberalism, and a historian of liberalism's discontents, but over time his political perspective evolved dramatically. In the 1960s, he was a neo-Marxist and acerbic critic of Cold War liberalism. During the 1970s, he began to become a far more iconoclastic figure, fusing cultural conservatism with a Marxian critique of capitalism, and drawing on Freud-influenced critical theory to diagnose the ongoing deterioration that he perceived in American culture and politics. His writings during this period are considered contradictory. They are sometimes denounced by feminists and hailed by conservatives for his apparent defense of the traditional family. But as he explained in one of his books The Minimal Self, "it goes without saying that sexual equality in itself remains an eminently desirable objective...". Moreover, in Women and the Common Life, Lasch clarified that urging women to abandon the household and forcing them into a position of economic dependence, in the workplace, pointing out the importance of professional careers does not entail liberation, as long as these careers are governed by the requirements of corporate economy.
He eventually concluded that an often unspoken but pervasive faith in "Progress" tended to make Americans resistant to many of his arguments. In his last major works he explored this theme in depth, suggesting that Americans had much to learn from the suppressed and misunderstood Populist and artisan movements of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Lasch sought to use history as a tool to awaken American society to the pervasiveness with which major institutions, public and private, were eroding the competence and independence of families and communities. He strove to create a historically informed social criticism that could teach Americans how to deal with rampant consumerism, proletarianization, and what he famously labeled the 'culture of narcissism.'
His books, including The New Radicalism in America (1965), Haven in a Heartless World (1977), The Culture of Narcissism (1979), and The True and Only Heaven (1991), and The Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy published posthumously in 1996 were widely discussed and reviewed. The Culture of Narcissism became a surprise best-seller and won the National Book Award in the category Current Interest (paperback).
Lasch was always a critic of liberalism, and a historian of liberalism's discontents, but over time his political perspective evolved dramatically. In the 1960s, he was a neo-Marxist and acerbic critic of Cold War liberalism. During the 1970s, he began to become a far more iconoclastic figure, fusing cultural conservatism with a Marxian critique of capitalism, and drawing on Freud-influenced critical theory to diagnose the ongoing deterioration that he perceived in American culture and politics. His writings during this period are considered contradictory. They are sometimes denounced by feminists and hailed by conservatives for his apparent defense of the traditional family. But as he explained in one of his books The Minimal Self, "it goes without saying that sexual equality in itself remains an eminently desirable objective...". Moreover, in Women and the Common Life, Lasch clarified that urging women to abandon the household and forcing them into a position of economic dependence, in the workplace, pointing out the importance of professional careers does not entail liberation, as long as these careers are governed by the requirements of corporate economy.
He eventually concluded that an often unspoken but pervasive faith in "Progress" tended to make Americans resistant to many of his arguments. In his last major works he explored this theme in depth, suggesting that Americans had much to learn from the suppressed and misunderstood Populist and artisan movements of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
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